Boys soccer: Rodriguez, Dundee-Crown rally past Huntley

Osvaldo Rodriguez had never felt like he had on Wednesday night and that's not because his fingers and toes were numb because of the weather.

The Dundee-Crown junior midfielder had a moment that he will never forget, because in a span of about a minute-and-a-half he scored twice to lead the Chargers to a thrilling 2-1 come-from-behind victory over Huntley in a Class 3A DeKalb sectional semifinal.

The Chargers (14-9-1) advance to Friday's sectional championship against familiar Fox Valley Conference foe Jacobs.

"This means a lot," Rodriguez said. "Thanks to everyone, my family, the coaches and my teammates for helping me for this. It feels incredible."

Even his coach, Rey Vargas, was almost speechless afterward.

"Wow is all I got to say," he said. "Honestly, these weather conditions weren't favorable for either team, but getting down 1-0 was a big downer. But I'm glad the boys never gave up, and they kept fighting back and eventually one was going to fall."

That one came with just 5:37 remaining in the game.

"It was incredible," Rodriguez said. "I saw the ball right in front of me. I had to take the shot."

Before the game-tying celebrating had completely subsided, Rodriguez was sprinting the other way, scoring on a breakaway just 15 seconds after his teammates had denied a decent free kick attempt from Huntley's Sam Bellantuono.

"Nothing fears me," Rodriguez said. "I just saw a shot right in front of me and had to put it in the back of the net. It was beautiful."

It was, but the weather didn't play along kindly. The Chargers had defeated the Red Raiders 4-0 on a 70-degree day in early September. This time, they struggled with the temps in the low 30s, strong winds and a rain/sleet mixture coming down.

"It gets to the postseason and anything can happen, especially on a night like tonight," Huntley coach Matthew Lewandowski said. "The weather (stinks). It's now sleeting and it hurts. It happened to fall their way and that's what it is. I think it was a good game from both teams, but the goals went their way."

Huntley (11-11-1) broke a scoreless game with 30:57 remaining in the second half when Gabriel Majocha blasted in a 35-yard shot from Austin Killeen.

As the game neared the end it appeared as if that would be enough, but in a game where you have to play the full 80 minutes, those final five proved devastating for Huntley.

"I think as we got that goal we let up a little tiny bit, and a little tiny bit was too much," Lewandowski said. "It is what it is. But the boys fought hard until the end, but I think if they stick it together, I think it's our game, but it fell their way."

While a tough way to end for the Red Raiders, it doesn't tarnish their strong finish that included a regional title.

"They should be proud of the season they had, especially after last season and a stretch of not even making a regional final," Lewandowski said. "That group of seniors, to leave that impression for the rest group is incredible. Hopefully we can remember that going forward."

As for the Chargers, it's uncharted waters now for Vargas and his team, who now prepare for Jacobs, who beat them 2-0 in Algonquin on Oct. 8.

"This is the furthest we've gotten and I've had some teams that should've gotten here," he said. "But everything has gone the right way and we keep fighting and never give up when we're down so they have some heart."

And now they have earned the opportunity to play for a sectional championship.